I sat down and in a couple of hours had written the treatment. He goes inside and opens a copy of the book, discovering it is dedicated "To HGW XX/7, in gratitude". Near the end of my visit, she asked me if I would work for them regularly by writing my opinion of "GDR Review" and its suitability for readers in the West. Add Critic Rating. The novel, the author's second one, was shortlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize on 9 September 2014. Editor: Seyward Darby. For me "The Lives of Others" is an authentic representation of that totalitarian state. [8], The film was received with widespread acclaim. In a 2019 article, he recalls that Donnersmarck interviewed him in 2002, and that his name was mentioned in the opening credits at the premiere screening. Wiesler has a gut feeling that Dreyman can't be as ideal as he seems, and believes surveillance is called for. "The Lives of Others" is a powerful but quiet film, constructed of hidden thoughts and secret desires. Hempf tells him that he had been under full surveillance in 1984. Like the omnipresent tentacles of East Germany's onetime secret police, "The Lives of Others" grips like a boa constrictor. Sign In to rate and review. I would be paid in GDR money to use during further visits. 70. After politely refusing this "offer" ("The police at home might not like it! [7], In a 2016 BBC poll, critics voted the film the 32nd greatest since 2000. Stasi Captain Gerd Wiesler is assigned by his superior, Anton Grubitz, to spy on successful playwright Georg Dreyman and the actress, who is also Dreyman’s lover, Christa-Marta Sieland. In Hein's words, "the movie does not depict the 1980s in the GDR", but is a "scary tale taking place in a fantasy land, comparable to Tolkien's Middle-earth."[27]. IMDb Top 250 Foreign Language Film (Non Animated). [41], 2006 German film by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, This article is about the German film. Wiesler has a gut feeling that Dreyman can't be as ideal as he seems, and believes surveillance is called for. Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) stars as a playwright who comes under state scrutiny and who smuggles a report embarrassing to the East German regime out of the country. "[21] Lisa Schwarzbaum, writing in Entertainment Weekly, pointed out that some of the subtlety in the film is due to the fact that "one of the movie's tensest moments take place with the most minimal of action" but that the director still "conveys everything he wants us to know about choice, fear, doubt, cowardice, and heroism. Based on 1 rating. The Lives of Others The more time he spends listening in on them, the more he comes to care about them. "[22] An article in First Things makes a philosophical argument in defense of Wiesler's transformation. Deeply moved, Wiesler buys the book. [28], The Europe List, the largest survey on European culture established that the top three films in European culture are, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands and Sweden had the film at number 1. "The Lives of Others" is set in Communist East Germany in 1984. Gerd Wiesler is an officer with the Stasi, the East German secret police. The Lives of Others subtitles for free. Sieland realises that Dreyman will know she betrayed him and flees the apartment. Donnersmarck cited Schindler's List as an example of such a plot development being possible. The film begins in 1984 when Wiesler attends a play written by Georg Dreyman, who is considered by many to be the ultimate example of the loyal citizen. After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver. Corliss praised the film as a "poignant, unsettling thriller. Film critic and historian Carrie Rickey believes that The Lives of Others was one of two movies that influenced Snowden's actions, the other being the 1974 Francis Ford Coppola film The Conversation, both being about wiretappers troubled by guilt.[36]. The once rigid Stasi officer begins to intervene in their lives, in a positive way, protecting them whenever possible. LP / Format. Need some help finding the best things to watch on Netflix? You never know, from one moment to the next, what course any of the characters will choose. And if we were to get that here, and there's the infrastructure for it right now, we will become a democratic republic in the same sense as the East German Democratic Republic. On 25 June 2013, after revelations of collaboration between NSA and GCHQ, British journalist and documentary maker Sarfraz Manzoor tweeted that "Now would be a good time to pitch a British remake of The Lives of Others. 79 wins & 38 nominations. When Dreyman and his friends feign a defection attempt to determine whether or not his flat is bugged, a now sympathetic Wiesler does not alert the border guards or his superior Lt. Col. Anton Grubitz (Ulrich Tukur) and the conspirators believe they are safe. Half a century later, their children made a shocking discovery. … ", http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/how-snowdens-revelations-saved-sarkozy, "German film prompts open debate on Stasi: A forbidden topic captivates nation", Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, Dublin Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film, Independent Spirit Award for Best International Film, London Film Critics' Circle Foreign Language Film of the Year, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film, New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Warsaw International Film Festival-audience award winning films, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Lives_of_Others&oldid=1018994213, Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners, Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA Award winners, Best Foreign Film Guldbagge Award winners, Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film winners, Films directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Articles containing potentially dated statements from November 2007, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Best Newcomer Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Best Screenplay: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, This page was last edited on 21 April 2021, at 00:01. At Dreyman's birthday party, his friend Albert Jerska, a blacklisted theatrical director, gives him sheet music for Sonate vom Guten Menschen (Sonata for a Good Man). garykmcd. "[17] William F. Buckley, Jr. wrote in his syndicated column that after the film was over, "I turned to my companion and said, 'I think that is the best movie I ever saw. A shocked Dreyman runs out after her and Sieland dies in his arms. Donnersmarck told a New York Times reporter: "I suddenly had this image in my mind of a person sitting in a depressing room with earphones on his head and listening in to what he supposes is the enemy of the state and the enemy of his ideas, and what he is really hearing is beautiful music that touches him. "[14] A. O. Scott, reviewing the film in The New York Times, wrote that Lives is well-plotted, and added, "The suspense comes not only from the structure and pacing of the scenes, but also, more deeply, from the sense that even in an oppressive society, individuals are burdened with free will. THE LIVES OF OTHERS. The film had earlier won seven Deutscher Filmpreis awards—including those for best film, best director, best screenplay, best actor, and best supporting actor—after setting a new record with 11 nominations. When Grubitz removes the floor however, the typewriter is gone – Wiesler having removed it before the search team arrived. A riveting German film about spying and the fear, distrust, and betrayal that come with it. The Lives of Others is a very different experience to Good Bye Lenin!, the funny and much-admired satire from 2003 on East Germany's collapse which, … When an open-minded Jewish librarian and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor, and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp. It stars Ulrich Mühe as Stasi Captain Gerd Wiesler, Ulrich Tukur as his superior Anton Grubitz, Sebastian Koch as the playwright Georg Dreyman, and Martina Gedeck as Dreyman's lover, a prominent actress named Christa-Maria Sieland. Since all East German typewriters are registered and identifiable, an editor of Der Spiegel smuggles Dreyman a miniature typewriter with a red ribbon. [25] Anna Funder, the author of the book Stasiland, in a review for The Guardian called The Lives of Others a "superb film" despite not being true to reality. The Lives of Others Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. How does Dreyman know when he sees the red thumb print on his file that Wiesler saved him? At the Stasi Records Agency, Dreyman reviews the files kept while he was under surveillance. I will never forget the feeling deep inside me when I read in it: ". As he goes through the files, he is confused by the large amount of contradictory information, but as he reaches the final report and sees a fingerprint in red ink, he realises that the officer in charge of his surveillance – Stasi officer HGW XX/7 – had concealed his activities, including his authorship of the suicide article, and also removed the typewriter from his apartment. 10 days with The Lives Of Others, a period of a glimpse into inhuman times via family saga. On 9 November 1989, Wiesler is steam-opening letters when a co-worker hears about the fall of the Berlin Wall on the radio. Search for "The Lives of Others" on Amazon.com, Title: … Mukherjee’s historical tale is compelling, his use of language and metaphor is inventive. Critic Score. [39], Henckel von Donnersmarck and Ulrich Mühe were successfully sued for libel for an interview in which Mühe asserted that his second wife, Jenny Gröllmann, informed the Stasi about his activities while they were East German citizens[3] through the six years of their marriage. [10], A review in Daily Variety by Derek Elley noted the "slightly stylized look" of the movie created by "playing up grays and dour greens, even when using actual locations like the Stasi's onetime HQ in Normannenstrasse. But why? [26], According to German author Christoph Hein, the movie is loosely based on his life story. "[3] The screenplay was written during an extended visit to his uncle's monastery, Heiligenkreuz Abbey. The once rigid Stasi officer begins to intervene in their lives, in a positive way, protecting them whenever possible. Preferably. Memories of the 70's and 80's visits in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) flood my mind while watching this film. Add Tag. In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police, conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover, finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives. The beautiful, friendly lady in Dresden had been a Stasi informer all the time! Surprised, Dreyman searches his apartment, finds the listening devices and rips them off the walls. May 14, 2021 / Release Date. "[38], French President Nicolas Sarkozy gave an interview in Le Figaro expressing his outrage over being the victim of surveillance himself. [2], Released 17 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, marking the end of the East German socialist state, it was the first notable drama film about the subject after a series of comedies such as Good Bye, Lenin! 78. I visited East-Berlin a few years after the wall came down, the moral stench still there, you could feel it, almost touch it, caked into ugly buildings everywhere. 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